Frequently Asked Questions
Using Qualtrics
- How do I build a survey or learn about advanced features and survey options to use in my survey design?
- How do I use the Qualtrics Mailer?
- I created a survey and I want to give somebody else the ability to edit or activate it.
- How long will my data be saved?
Troubleshooting
- When taking my survey, a respondent encounters the message “This survey has expired.”
- I appear to have a trial account and now I can’t register for Qualtrics under NC State University. How can I register or move my account under the NC State brand?
Account Details
- What are my account permissions?
- Qualtrics is telling me I need to upgrade my account in order to create more surveys or use more questions in my survey. How do I do this?
- There are certain question types (slider, heatmap, etc) that are grayed out and I can’t use them in my survey. How do I gain access to them?
- I need to be able to see personally identifiable information about respondents in order to conduct my survey. How do I do this?
Using Qualtrics
How do I build a survey or learn about advanced features and survey options to use in my survey design?
Qualtrics Support 
is the most comprehensive resource for information on how to create surveys, distribute surveys, and use advanced building options.
Beginning and novice users should start by watching the Learn to Use Qualtrics Resource Core video training series. Qualtrics also has its own community forum where you can post questions and get help from other Qualtrics users.
For a short handout containing some useful tips for using and building surveys in Qualtrics, see the ISA Qualtrics Reference Guide 
.
If you have a specific question about how to use a feature in Qualtrics or are having trouble building your survey, you can also get in touch with the support team at Qualtrics by phone at 1-800-340-9194 or online at https://www.qualtrics.com/support-center. Our university Qualtrics license covers free, 24/7 customer support, and the Qualtrics Support team is an excellent resource to turn to for technical guidance and troubleshooting.
How do I use the Qualtrics Mailer?
Qualtrics has a robust mailer system that allows you to send out messages and survey links to participants via email. To do so, you will need to create a Contact List (formerly called a “panel”) in .CSV format containing recipients’ email addresses. You can also include in this list other data that you have about the recipients that you want to add to their survey data (e.g. first name, last name, ID). By default, each recipient will get a unique Individual Link, which allows you to easily send customized reminder and thank-you emails, track the mailing history, and associate respondents’ survey data with data from the contact list.
For information on more advanced options within the Qualtrics Mailer, see Emails Overview at Qualtrics Support.
If you cannot or do not want to use the Qualtrics Mailer, you can also distribute your survey through an open-access survey link. If you have a contact list but do not want to use individual links, you can associate the contact list data with respondents’ survey data by using an authenticator and having respondents “login” to the survey. View extensive information on authenticators .
I created a survey and I want to give somebody else the ability to edit or activate it.
Go to “My Projects” and click the drop-down arrow for the survey you want to share. In the drop-down menu that appears, click “Share Project.” Enter in the email address of the person you wish to collaborate with. You must then check off each of the permissions you want to give to their account – e.g., the ability to edit the survey, activate or deactivate it, and so on, and then click “Save.”
How long will my data be saved?
Your surveys and response data are stored on your Qualtrics account indefinitely. You can see individual response data under Responses, or click “Tools” and “Export Data” to download your data in CSV, SPSS, XML, and HTML formats.
Troubleshooting
When taking my survey, a respondent encounters the message “This survey has expired.”
When the survey was originally created, an option was checked in Survey Options to have the survey expire on a specific date. To solve this, go into Survey Options and uncheck the Survey Expiration option or set the expiration to a later date.
I appear to have a trial account and now I can’t register for Qualtrics under NC State University. How can I register or move my account under NC State brand?
Having your account registered under NC State gives you access to many more survey features and tools and allows us to upgrade your account permissions or transfer ownership of surveys. If you created your account outside of the NC State Qualtrics registration process, you will need to contact Qualtrics Support online at https://www.qualtrics.com/support-center/ or by phone at 1-800-340-9194 and ask them delete the account — you will then need to recreate the account through the NC State Qualtrics registration process.
If you have surveys and/or data on your trial account and do not want the account deleted, you can ask Qualtrics Support to have your account moved over to the NC State license instead. However, once the account move has been made (and it can take several weeks), your account will still have limited permissions. You will need to complete the New User Form for Transferred Accounts available online at https://ncsu.qualtrics.com//SE/?SID=SV_eEf5bFVMIbrh52t in order to access full account permissions. At the end of this form you will be provided with an access code and instructions on how to apply it to your Qualtrics account.
Account Details
What are my account permissions?
All Qualtrics accounts registered under the NC State brand have the following permissions:
– Ability to activate surveys
– Ability to collaborate on surveys with Qualtrics users not affiliated with NC State
– Unlimited responses
– Unlimited Contact Lists (i.e., survey samples uploaded to Qualtrics to use when distributing surveys)
– Unlimited names per Contact List
– Unlimited total surveys
– 10,000 emails per week
The number of active (“live”) surveys and the number of questions per survey are based on primary status at NC State. Refer to the table below:
| Administrators | Faculty | Staff | Grad Students | UG Students | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max live surveys | 25 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| Max questions per survey | 200 | 200 | 200 | 100 | 50 |
All accounts have the following restrictions:
– No inaccessible question types allowed, that is, those that are not ADA compliant (e.g., slider, heat map, hotspot, and any other questions that cannot be read with a screen reader)
– No personally identifiable information included with responses (i.e., IP address, and, if using a Contact List through Qualtrics, email address). This permission is set in order to protect the confidentiality of survey respondents. Note, however, that if your survey specifically asks for personally identifiable information, such as name or email, information provided by respondents will be included in your results.
Qualtrics is telling me I need to upgrade my account in order to create more surveys or use more questions in my survey. How do I do this?
Accounts are limited in the number of questions per survey and the number of surveys that can be active at one time. You can request an upgrade by sending an email to qualtrics_support@ncsu.edu describing the nature and needs of your project.
There are certain question types (slider, heatmap, etc) that are grayed out and I can’t use them in my survey. How do I gain access to them?
In support of NC State’s requirement that all NCSU-related web pages meet ADA compliance criteria (see the NCSU regulation on Information and Communication Technology Accessibility at http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-04-25-05 ), we have disabled Qualtrics question-types that are ‘non-accessible.’ These include, e.g., the heat map, hot spot, slider, and others.
Admittedly, these non-accessible formats are really pretty cool, and in some cases are the only way to collect the needed information. However, for the most part there are accessible types (such as multiple choice and text entry) that can gather the same information as non-inaccessible question types. We do understand, however, that sometimes an inaccessible question type is essential to survey design, so we handle these requests on a case-by-case basis, and can turn these questions on for users who absolutely need them for their research.
Those wanting to use the non-accessible question types will need to contact ISA at qualtrics_support@ncsu.edu with a summary of their survey project, to whom they are administering the survey, and why they need to use the non-accessible question format.
I need to be able to see personally identifiable information about respondents in order to conduct my survey. How do I do this?
The Office of Institutional Research and Planning places a high degree of importance on the protection of respondent information. Those wanting access to personally identifiable information, such as email addresses, names, or IP addresses, will need to contact ISA at qualtrics_support@ncsu.edu with a summary of the survey project, why they need access to personal data, and if the survey is being conducted for research purposes, a copy of their approved IRB form including approval to collect personally identifiable information.